Spatch
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Posts
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Joined
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I've run Apex a couple of times now.
The first run yesterday was on a highly non-optimized team. We had six melee (tanks, scrappers, brutes, and a stalker), one buff/debuffer (corrupter), and one ranged (me, a Peacebringer built to blast). One of our melee also did not have his Alpha slot filled, so he was running at a -8 level debuff.
It took forever and a day, but we took Battle Maiden down with plain, old fashioned perseverance. You have plenty of time to dodge her Blue Aura of Death even if you have an attack firing off.
Our run time for the TF was 1:38.
The second attempt this afternoon had a much better grouping, with four melee, three buff/debuff, and a ranged (again, me). With the buffs/debuffs, we took Battle Maiden down within the 15 minutes allotted for the Already Dead badge. It was close, I'm sure we were probably pushing the 15 minute limit, but we were successful nonetheless. Total TF time was somewhere around 50 minutes.
From both runs, for the Battle Maiden portion of the TF, I came away with two insights.
1. First, a -regen debuffer would be hugely helpful, such as a rad or dark. Battle Maiden has a pretty significant regen rate, so reducing this will be very helpful.
2. I found myself having MUCH less difficulty avoiding face-planting compared to my melee counterparts. The swords do not appear to have a fly capability or ranged damage (if they did, I didn't notice), so they did not provide me with any significant problems. Having a solid contingent of flying ranged damage on the team would also be greatly helpful.
Just my thoughts. IMO. -
What I quite like is most, if not all, of the new explore badges have extremely well fleshed out descriptions.
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Quote:It does provide some 'blue text' information at the beginning regarding these side contacts. I found it a little vague, and poorly worded, personally, but it was there nonetheless. Given this side-contact business is a new mission mechanic, it could probably use a bit of tweaking, and rewording to be a bit more clear.Originally Posted by Lothic
Seems strange the mission text didn't give any hints about going to talk to that guy.
Thanks for letting us know about it regardless.
That said, I do confess that I only skimmed over (at best!) the text my first run through, so I probably would have missed it either way.
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Quote:Happy to help.Originally Posted by jacktar
Hi Spatch,
good thought about the dialogue chain!
I did have an extended session with him and as it was early in the morning (2.30am) I may very well have made a wrong choice and screwed up
It was immediately after this that Marcos ignored me so it looks as if that is what I did.
In my defence I did try to be sensible about my choices but it was a bit vague/confusing at times to know what was the right path to take.
In any case I will re-run later and pay particular attention to the texts.
Thanks for your help
To my recollection, the conversation with Bilto goes something like the following:
1. Usual dialogue chain with no choices, just keep clicking the single 'choice'. Bilto threatens you with eternal damnation, blah blah blah, if you betray him.
2. At the end of this, he gives you the information you need for the main mission objective (for Vincent Ross).
3. Now you have the moral choice, free or betray him. But, if you're running Maros' objective, there is a third dialogue choice, something along the lines of, "Tell me more about..."
You must select that third choice to complete Maros' task. Once you do, you get another dialogue window with some additional details. It then circles back to the free/betray choice, which you then make as usual.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
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The "Connected" badge awards after the second to last mission, where you destroy the Red Coral.
You need to completed Maros' objective in each mission, otherwise I suspect the conditions for receiving the badge will not be met. I was pretty festidious while I ran the arc, killing all/most even when it wasn't required. I wanted to make sure I missed nothing.
jacktar - is it possible you did not complete one of Maros' objectives? During the Bilto mission, you need to complete a dialogue chain with him before you opt to free him or betray him.
Kotchie - I'm not sure, but these badges may only award to the 'owner' of the arc. -
Quote:Huh. I was wondering what the heck you were talking about in BMT channel yesterday. That's pretty cool. I guess I'll need to run the event one more time.Originally Posted by Dollymistress
Remember to do the event three times - first for the event badge, second fight the ghouls and get the tantrum emote reward plus the Escapee badge, then finally side with the ghouls and get the flex emote.
I love the tantrum emote
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Quote:Ha ha ha!Originally Posted by Dollymistress
Maybe I just did 91+% of the damage, tee hee
(joke!).
*grumbles*
It was the first time I ran the event, I suspect that period of time where I was "lost" doomed my final badge selection.
*shakes fist at Dolly*
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Thanks, Dolly. I couldn't figure that one out either.
Edit: self /facepalm for not reading the contact text for the first mission the first time I ran this arc. :/ -
I duo'ed the Neutropolis event this morning with Dollmistress, and did not received the option for the badge at the end (just DO, Inf, or Insp). It was only the two of us, so it seemed strange to not have been given the option to select the badge.
On my second run (solo), I was granted the badge option.
Gremlins in the system, I suspect. -
I ran two Neutropolis events this morning, and got the Failed Experiment badge that way. One thing I noticed on the second run, is that if you ignore Lucan, the final boss, Failed Experiements seem to keep spawning.
On the first run, I duoed with Dollmistress, and we got to around 50% credit to the Failed Experiment badge. On my second run, though, I was alone, and only minions were spawning. If I'd defeated Lucan right away, I would not have gotten the badge. Ignoring Lucan, I was able to kill enough to get the badge. It may very well be possible to get enough Failed Experiments in a single run with this strategy if you're only running solo or duo. -
Yesterday was a busy day. I guess I really should update my sig..............
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Quote:To my recollection, this is the third time in as many years that they've run this promo. It's always been associated with this time of year, although (and I cannot recall with certainty), they may have offered it last summer when That Other Superhero MMOG was released.Originally Posted by Bittovan_Odduck
Do they normally run this promo around this time? ie, end November-early December?
If so I will try to adjust my account so it auto-renews during that period anyway, and then I won't have to do an annual cancel/re-sub (that only works for the first year anyway, since if you cancel any time during the re-enlist period you lose the free months).
If anyone has advice on when they 'usually' run this (I assume it is not a fixed policy) please let me know.
Thanks much!
I've availed myself of the 12+2 each time -- it's a great bargain, you get this game essentially for 10 bucks a month. -
Thanks to both Beef Cake and Blondeshell. I'll be downloading the updated version post haste.
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Glad it finally showed up for you!
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Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.
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Quote:Yep, worked fine for me, around 7:30 a.m. PST -- converted my annual sub to 12+2. No brainer for me. Out of curiosity, even though I own all the boosters, I also checked the NC Store, and all the boosters previously indicated in the dev announcement were on sale, 50% off.Originally Posted by GMan3
Strange, I logged in at 5AM local time (Hawaii) to see if there were any deals not listed and they all showed up just fine for me. That would make it 10AM Eastern so you should have been able to see the deals by the time you posted this.
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Quote:I too wish there was a clock built-in somewhere in the HUD. I sub to that Other Rather Large MMOG and like the on-screen clock it provides. I've often wished CoX had that feature too.Originally Posted by Sqeak
iv been playing this game since launch, and there is one thing iv always wanted in the game but has never been put in. that is simply a clock of some form. i like to be able to glance at the time not have to minimize the game to see what time it is.
so i was wondering if anyone knows anything about if the devs will ever put one in the game, i know its something small, and most will say their time is better put else where but i still would like to see one.
However, like the other poster suggested, I play CoX in windowed mode, which makes the Windows clock easy to access in your task bar (assuming your OS is Windows). Something you might give a try. -
Quote:I'm pretty sure you're on the right track here. Contests made available to Canada almost always are "prohibited in Quebec." Quebec has a unique civic legal system, based on Frances Napoleonic code. I suspect it's rather easier to simply exclude Quebec than attempt to make a contest comply with regional laws covering an area of only about seven million people.Originally Posted by T_Immortalus
Well then, what do you think is the reason?
I've seen so many "contest open only to residents of the Us and Canada" and "offer not valid in Europe" or whatever that seems to point to legal issues.
Maybe it's something with tax laws.
Likely something similar is happening with the 12+2 promotional offer not being extended to European players. Of course, this is pure speculation. Whatever the reason, it rather sucks for the Euro players. -
Quote:Are you paying by credit card? If so, you're fine. Simply cancel your billing plan (your game account will remain active, as you've prepaid for six months), and next Monday, resub with the new promo offer. Your sub will renew with the promo offer at your next renewal date, in May/2011.Originally Posted by MoonlyteShadow
oh this blows, I just continued my sub 3 days ago and I have been on the 6 month plan since last time they did this! How is it I get screwed out of it this time, by a week!
I *think* if you pay via Paypal it works the same way, except that your payment is collected immediately, not at your next renewal date. Perhaps someone who pays via Paypal can chime in and confirm, or clarify.
In either case, I'm pretty sure you can still avail yourself of the offer, even though your semi-annual sub just renewed a few days ago. I pay annually, and my sub expires in June/2011. But, I cancelled my billing plan tonight, and next Monday, I'll 're sub' with the promo 12+2 offer -- when my credit card gets dinged in June/2011, my sub will then extend to August/2012. -
Quote:While offering prepaid deals can be a harbinger of company in trouble, in this case, as NC/Paragon has offered this promo now three years running, I'd wager it's simply good business practice and customer retention/loyalty strategy of a profitable and solvent going concern.Originally Posted by JJDrakken
rats, ship, water.
-wanders off-
JJ
JMO. -
Quote:Interesting. I don't level pact, so this doesn't affect me. But I didn't know that, so it's definitely something folks ought to consider. Good info.Originally Posted by Jetpack
Unless you have leveling pacts. Canceling kills the level pacts.
I'll stick to my month-to-month - unless a Red name states that the leveling pacts survive now. Didn't in the past. -
Quote:My annual sub expires in June, but I'm working under the presumption that this promo will work like previously. If it does, you and I are in a no risk position.Originally Posted by Psyte
I just subscribed annually in August. I'm tempted to go for this special, but am not sure... hrm.
Simply cancel your existing annual sub (don't worry, the game remains playable until whatever date you've prepaid until). Then, next Monday, 're-sub' with the new promo option. Since you've already prepaid until August/2011, you get charged nothing now. When your sub renews next August, it will then subsequently run until October/2012. However, between now and August/2011, you can cancel or amend your sub option at any time (although, will lose the promotional deal if you do). Hence, no risk. Great deal.
Clear as mud?
Edit to add clarification: my analysis above is assuming payment by credit card. I've never paid via Paypal, but it's my understanding Paypal payments are processed immediately. -
Quote:Don't feel the least bit torn about taking advantage of this promotion. If you go for the 12+2 option, it's a win-win proposition.Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
The sad thing is, I'm a little torn about doing this because it means that Paragon will get less of my money. (I'm currently on a month-to-month subscription plan.)
This is the only game I've ever played that I feel is worthy of the $15/month I pay (plus the cost of all the boosters), and it's due to this that I want to support them as best I can*, which I've done so far by keeping two accounts active...
... But, I think I'm gonna go ahead and switch my main account over to the year-plus-two-free-months plan this go 'round, while keeping my second account on the month-to-month plan in case I ever get strapped for cash (like I did when I got bumped down to part-time for 3 months) and have to cancel something.
*That said, I'm not buying the Party Pack. Bad marketting department, no cookie!
First, it's a win for you obviously, because you're getting a great discount on your game time. As I stated in another post, the 12 month price is already a good bargain. Two extra freebie months makes it a heckuva deal.
Second, companies actually prefer their clients to prepay in advance, even when doing so allows the customer to buy at a discount. There's a saying in business: Cash is King. Without getting into the math of it, there's a concept known as time value of money. Getting $143 from you today for a year's sub time, versus $15 monthly for the same period, actually works out the same (or better) for NC -- that extra influx of cash from long term subs is used to reinvest in the company to generate more sales/revenue/profit. This is without even considering when they get a player for a year who previously paid monthly, there's no risk now the player will cancel during that year period.
Overall, there's ample monetary incentive for NC/Paragon to offer this deal, and that's largely why they're offering the promotion. Getting as many people buying annual and semi-annual subs is better for the game's bottom line.
Hope that helps you sleep better tonight.
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Quote:I'm not a red name, but I just went into my NC account and canceled my billing. The game remains playable until whatever date you've pre-paid until, it just shows your sub options as "none." When 11/29 rolls around, simply re-activate your billing with the 12+2, or 6+1, promotional option.Originally Posted by Hy-Beams
Not that I don't believe you but is there a red name that can confirm this? I am in the same position, my auto renew activates on 11/30. I would like to get the promotion with the least effort
If you're really nervous about it, do both (cancel + resub) at the same time, next Monday.
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Heh, too funny, I logged into my NC account last night to see if they'd re-implemented the 12+2 deal this year. As I sub to this game annually, this is a no brainer for me. The 12 month price is an excellent value as-is ... throw in two freebie months, and it's a downright bargain.